How to get started with Android apps on your Chromebook

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Get your (card) game on

Get your (card) game on (Image credit: Ara Wagoner / Android Central)

While Chromebooks are useful just with Chrome extensions and the Chrome browser, the lack of traditional Windows/Mac programs can make it seem lackluster as a laptop you actually intend to use full-time. This is where Android apps come in, with the Google Play Store opening your Chromebook up to millions of apps for work and for play. Your Chromebook even comes with a few Android apps pre-installed, but here's how to get some more fun and functional Android apps running.

How to install Android apps on a Chromebook

  1. Open Google Play from your dock or app drawer.
Open Google Play
  1. Tap the search bar at the top to search for an app, or tap the categories to browse.
Search
  1. Type in your search term or particular category you want to browse.
Search for your app
  1. Tap the app you'd like to install from the category or the search results.
Tap Netflix
  1. Tap Install.
Tap Install

Like apps on your Android phone these days, you'll usually be granting your apps' permissions as you open and go about using them. Older apps might still have you grant permissions en masse upon installation, but those should be few and far between at this point. While some apps can use SD cards for storing things like downloaded videos or game data, the app itself has to be on internal memory, so don't expect to move Android apps to an SD card the way you do on your phone.

How to grant apps permission to use an SD card or microSD card

  1. Open Settings.
Tap the Settings gear
  1. Scroll down to Device and tap Storage management.
Tap Storage management
  1. Tap External storage preferences.
Tap <a href=External storage preferences" width="" />
  1. Tap the toggle next to your SD card or microSD card.
Tap the toggle

You'll have to do this for every flash drive and external storage device you plug into your Chromebook before apps can see and interact with them. Even then, some apps won't treat SD storage as a viable options on Chromebooks the way they do on Android; the Disney+ app, for example, won't let you download videos to the SD card on Chromebooks but will on Android, which is a small bummer.